Top Museums in Stockport, United Kingdom

Great experience and good value for money, includes guided audio tour. Fascinating to see how people lived during the air raids, highly recommended

Nice little museum, free entry but can pay to visit the staircase house as well. Comprehensive history of stockport with plenty of interactive areas for kids

Very friendly staff, tunnels longer than I thought. Use you imagination to realise how crowded it must have been. Well worth a visit especially with young children to make them understand what our parents went through.

Apparently one of the finest examples of Tudor building in UK. Lots of rooms to explore by yourself. £6.50 entry fee. Small parking charge too but you can park in street directly opposite over the main road.

A fantastic Tudor stately home with a wealth of features... very friendly helpful staff , Margaret was a real gem full of useful knowledge 👌

Bramhall Hall - A beautiful building that is full of history

What is Bramhall Hall?

Bramhall Hall is a Tudor building which is a visitor attraction that is located in the heart of Stockport, Greater Manchester.

It consists of 3 floors that gives you a brilliant insight of how people lived there in the old times. The Davenports were the first family that lived there followed by the Neville family.

What rooms are inside Bramhall Hall?

Bramhall Hall is a historical building that contains numerous rooms. They are:

The Chapel
Banqueting Room
Entertainment Room
Solar Room
Servant Rooms
Master Bedroom
Bedroom for children born
Dining Room
Kitchen
Office

Chapel

The Chapel is a beautiful building with coloured glass windows. It was lovely in presentation where religious service and weddings took place.. There was also a good variety of objects including an altar and a fire place.

Banqueting Room

This room inside Bramhall Hall was used to bring guests together and to dine together. The art work in this room was exquisite and it featured elements of Stone Henge. It complemented well with the furniture of the room.

The Solar Room

This room had incredible high ceilings and amazing chandeliers hanging on the roof. There were some nice items inside some cabinets including fine chinaware.

Entertainment Room

This room was where the family living at Bramhall Hall during the old times would entertain guests. The room is of a decent size and included a pool table. The paintings on the walls were superb and had an oriental feel that was unique.

The Servants Rooms

These rooms were detailed and had the essential items too. Some servants would share a room. This was the case in one of the rooms where there was a number of beds with brushes, a simple toilet and wash bowl. Some of the items were tactile and it was a lovely getting to touch them to get a feel of their texture.

Servants would work at 6am till 10pm.

Dining Room

The dining room was impressive. The dining table was lovely with all the plates, bowls and cutlery organised on the table. There were also lovely artwork that surrounds the room. When the Davenport/Neville families would dine in this room whilst enjoying the views of the garden. A lovely pleasant room.

The Kitchen

The Kitchen gave moments of nostalgia with the old kitchen utensils that you would recognise during the old times. It also had a machine in which they cleaned clothes. It was great.

Entry and Admission

In order to enter Bramhall Hall then you are required to book a ttmed ticket online and to pay for it in advance before the date of your visit.

For pricing details then check out the Bramhall Hall website for further information.

Facilities

There is a park with beautiful views and a small lake.

There is a café on site that serves a variety of hot and cold food including Sandwiches, Chips and Cakes. There are also hot and cold drinks on offer too. It is reasonably priced.

Toilets are on site.

Access

As Bramhall Hall is an old historical building therefore there are no lifts. As a result you will need to use the stairs in order to access all floors of the building. In addition, some rooms had a number of steps to go up and down in order to enter the rooms. If you are visually impaired then take your time going up and down them.

Parking

Bramhall Hall has its own designated car park which is free to use. There are also some disabled bays where people with a Blue Badge can park there for 3 hours.

If you love to learn about life in a historical building in a way that is interesting, engaging and informative then Bramhall Hall is the place for you.

The museum is well worth the visit
Not too busy and exhibitions well spaced out
There are several floors to cover and a lift is available which would be of great benefit to those with reduced mobility

Visited tonight on a guided tour with the Cubs and Scouts was my 1st visit with my 2 son's , was a fantastic experience the tour guide was great and really went into detail he was quite funny as well he made the experience more enjoyable, I would highly recommend visiting to anyone, can't believe it was my 1st visit and I live in Stockport, definitely a hidden gem.

Bramall Hall is a fabulous timber-framed house near Stockport. It's less well known than Little Moreton Hall and Speke Hall but a visit is just as rewarding. There are magnificent Tudor wall-paintings which are internationally important and an Elizabethan plaster ceiling which is one of the best I have seen. Every room has something of real interest. The staff are enthusiastic and extremely helpful. The grounds are nice too.

Took my children to experience the air raid shelters. My youngest is learning about it at school. Fascinating place. Great value and the staff were fantastic. If your in the Greater Manchester area it really is worth a visit.

What a great place , audio tour included, spent an hour walking the tunnels and listening to information.

Bramall Hall is a fascinating building with and interesting history and some unique features. We weren't expecting to find so many well restored rooms. The videos which one can play as you go round are excellent, giving clear explanations, by experts, of what you are looking at. It's excellent value for money and if you're a friend of the Historic Houses Association you get in free of charge.

Such an amazing museum. Staff were so lovely and the tour was very interesting. Learnt so much - so glad this museum exists ! A real must when visiting Stockport.

Very friendly helpful staff. Interesting artwork, nice cafe and lovely shop.

Poshest council house Ive been in!! Credit to Stockport Council for caring for this treasure. The staff were fantastic, knowledgable and friendly. Cafe on site was very good and reasonably priced.

Absolutely loved it!! Such history and a self guided hands on tour. The staff were very informative and the depth of knowledge from one gentleman was amazing. Lots of rooms to explore and plenty of historical clothes and artifacts to investigate. Great value and an all round pleasant experience.

We were delighted with Bramhall Hall, exceeded our expectations. The House and the grounds were stunning. Lovely day out, would definitely recommend. We spent half a day here—could have stayed longer. The restaurant served lovely food—and had gluten free options 👍. All the staff were great and very knowledgeable.
One small recommendation I would make—-inside the house, put information boards up higher (all knee height!), and include more boards.
Thanks

It is a really interesting place to learn about the history of WW2. The tour begins with a short audio visual display, cleverly done with lights and shadows, which sets the scene for the creation of the shelters. Once that is over, you venture into the tunners. There are areas detailing the history of the area during WW2 and other interesting bits of history. There are various areas to see, including the wardens room, sleeping areas, toilets, sick bay, kitchen area, and a reconstructed Anderson shelter. There is an accompanying audio tour that gives extra information at various points, as well as real testimonies of experiences. Finally, there's a shop with wartime themed items. I noticed a sign for guided tours that happen on some evenings where you get to see extra parts of the tunnels not usually accessible to the public (age 16+ for this tour). We spent around 45 minutes here as a family, but could have easily spent double the time if we didn't have a toddler with us.

Brilliant piece of history. Fascinating to see how the house and the way it's occupants lived changed over hundreds of years. Worth using the audio guide for more detailed information. Staff are very friendly and helpful recommending places to eat and other attractions to visit

Visited on a Sunday and spent around an hour here - five different floors and some really interesting local history. Friendly staff, plenty to see and gift shop and WC. Would recommend :)

A really enjoyable visit, both adults and kids loved it!! Staff were very helpful and friendly.

The exhibits at Hat Works are thoughtfully curated and interactive. They allow visitors to explore the evolution of hat-making techniques, materials, and styles. From vintage hats to contemporary designs, each exhibit offers a glimpse into the fascinating world of millinery.

This is my new favourite place! This building and its grounds are absolutely stunning! We arrived around 12pm sunday and there was parking chaos as there isn't many spaces but we got parked in the end (prices in the photo) also note you can pay by phone but i had zero signal. Tickets can be bought at the visitors center to the house £6.50 adult and under 16s free. The staff were lovely. The ladies that greeted us on entry to the house were really welcoming and very lovely. The house is gorgeous, each room beautifully decorated and seeped in history, truly fantastic. The grounds has a playground, duck pond with lots of ducks, a cafe with an ice cream counter (single wafer cone £2.95 or in the visitors center £2 a tub). There are toilets that were very clean. Lots of picturesque places for a picnic

Went for a quick walk in the sunshine. Very peaceful and not too busy. Car park was very convenient. The park was beautifully maintained. Had coffee in the cafe. Recommended for families and singletons.

Wonderfully preserved home & grounds. Historically significant of 1200-1935. Davenport historic home originally. Delightful staff that have knowledge freely shared. We spent 2.5 hours here.

Stockport Museum – The story of Stockport through the ages.

What is the Stockport Museum?

Stockport Museum is a museum that is located in the heart of Stockport where you will go on a fascinating and interesting journey through time starting from the Victorian times up to present day Stockport. The museum also puts on a number of exhibitions for visitors to enjoy.

Exhibitions Visited

The Stockport Collection Photographic Exhibition

This Exhibition consists of a beautiful collection of Heidi Alexander works. They show Stockport Market from 1976 to 1977.

She donated the photos to the museum.

It was a great exhibition as it gave you a real insight of how Stockport was popular for its market. Each photograph was of a different stall. It included the person that was selling and the items itself such as clothes and flowers.

For instance it only costed 19p for a pair of socks at that time. Wow.

The details on each photo was brilliant and the descriptions were to the point. Each one would describe the stall, the items that they were selling and the period or the date in which it was taken.

The other Galleries

Stockport Museum also has other Galleries.

This includes:

The History Gallery

The Family Gallery

Strawberry Studios

1940s and 50s living room and kitchen

Football

World War and Transport

The History Gallery

In this Gallery there were rocks. There was a great variety of pottery and cutlery that were used by the people of Mellor in the olden times. Salt was important in those times as it was used to preserve meat.

This small Gallery gives you an insight of the beliefs that people had in the old times and the cutlery that they used. It was great that the objects on display were varied and they were beautifully presented.

The Family Gallery

The Family Gallery is a great interactive space for young ones that features animals and objects relating to Egypt. It provides a space for them that is both fun and educational for them to enjoy.

Strawberry Studios

In this part of the museum there are posters about some of the famous bands that recorded in this studio including Joy Division. There were some great objects too.

Unknown Pleasures the album by Joy Division was recorded at Strawberry in April 1979. It was a majestic album as it changed the face of music.

The 1950s Kitchen

The kitchen was made by a company called CSA Industries which are based in Warwick. It was lovely to look at a kitchen from that era in which black and white was common as the colours at that time. It was also interesting to see all the common pieces of equipment that people had during those times. This included a Hotpoint Washing Machine and the Kenwood Food Mixer.

Fashion and Home Furniture

Fashion and home furniture began to change. Drap designs were replaced by innovative designs, high colours and patterns. There was a good and diverse range of fashion on display including a dress and swim wear from 1989.

Football

Stockport is famous for football as they have its onw football team called Stockport County. It was enjoyable to see all the trophies and medals that were won over many years.

The last Gallery that we visited looked at the importance of the World War. I liked looking at the uniform and the range of objects that were relating to the war.

Stockport was also famous for having numerous sites for entertainment and leisure. They had a choice of 2 theatres. Museums and libraries were also encourages as it would indicate high class. Stockport’s first park was called Vernon Park which was opened in 1858 where people could enjoy walks around beautiful landscapes. It was interesting learning about Stockport culture over the years.

Entry

Stockport Museum is free to enter however you will need to book in advance online to secure a timed slot to guarantee entry.

Facilities

Stockport Museum does not have its own café however there are a number of cafes that are nearby.

There are toilets at the venue.

We all really enjoyed our little trip to the Stockport Air Raid Shelter. Absolute bargain entry price for a few hours of keeping the kids entertained over school hols. Probably wouldn’t go again as it’s not that kind of thing - once seen, you’re done. But I would definitely recommend to anyone if you haven’t been before. The staff are all really lovely and knowledgeable & there’s a cute little gift shop with interesting things for kids to spend their pocket money.

Fascinating house with great atmosphere and lots of well presented information points. Definitely a 'feeling' in some of the rooms! Servants' quarters are great to see. Grounds are really pleasant to walk around with the river running through and small lakes with various wildfowl to see. It's definitely worth taking binoculars for that. Cakes in the cafe are good too!

I enjoyed this activity. I found it interesting to see how our ancestors used to live. Lot's of information on the history of the house scattered around. Audio recording available for each room. Friendly and helpful staff. Lift access to all three floors. Lovely gift shop. At £5.50 per adult, great value for money. I would recommend.

The perfect leisurely activity for a Saturday morning. My daughter and I enjoyed an hour exploring and learning about the air raid shelters. Friendly staff, lovely gift shop. Would definitely recommend, at £5.50 per adult it's great value for money.

Well worth a visit. The audio visual at the beginning is fairly poor, but the material on the audio guides is very well done. Gives a good idea of WWII "make do and mend" initiative and creativity..

This property is looked after by Stockport County Council and is quite staggering . Its mainly tudor and is free entry if you are a Historic house member. Staff we met were all pleasant. There are info boards and touch screens in each room that shows interesting videos and pertinent info about the items in the room. There is a cafe on site and a large area of parkland . Car park is reasonably small and may get full at weekends. A property of the highest order

Very surprised at this place. I had lived in Stockport for 4 years and had no idea this really well presented free museum was hiding in the Center of Stockport. Lots of toys and games for my 2 year old and lots of interesting artifices to learn about even things dating back thousands of years from the local area.
Will definitely come back again and friendly staff.

It was a great place for a family day out, my daughter had lots of fun, there are many activities and role play sections.
It's not overwhelmingly big , so we spent two hours and a half approximately, there is a nice small gift shop. The ladies were so kind and friendly.
Highly recommend.

Sehr interessante Einblicke in das Landleben des Mittelstandes im 17., 18. und 19. Jh. Das Haus an sich ist bereits sehenswert, der Einzritt beträgt nur 5 Pfund inkl. Audioguide. Sehr freundliches Personal. Anschauliche Filmchen unterstützen die Vorstellung der Besucher. Angeschlossen ist ebenfalls ein Museum zur Stadtgeschichte ingl. der Strawberry Studios, in denen weiland schon Sir Paul McCartney.

The place is not very busy. You can see there all process off the hats. Not much to do for kids. In my opinion place just for one visit.

A mid sized regional museum on the History of Hat making in Stockport, housed at a former hat factory. The Museum comprises a one floor hat collection and a larger floor of exhibits on hat making process and machinery. Exhibits are a little low budget, but the history is fascinating. Tours are on offer for a fee, but entrance is free on a donation basis. Good for passing an hour or too although a little low budget. Photos from The Hat collection is not shown at the request of the museum due to copyright issues.

Visited for the Flecky Bennett's tour and had a great experience. Got to visit areas of the building not generally open to the public and got an enjoyable tour experience from Mr Bennett. Would highly recommend. It's an interesting building which makes you feel close to the history of the town. Nice little gift shop too!

This museum is free and is a good way to spend half an hour. There is a children's bit upstairs with interactive stuff like a shadow puppet wall, so if you had small children you could drag it out longer. Its wheelchair accessible and there are toilets.

it was indeed a lovely place to learn about British history and even a very quaint little place to sit down and just rest. I listen to some music of the 18th century and then sat down and wrote a bit on quilts. It was a truly enlightening experience. The audio guide, however, does indeed need to be upgraded. My audio guide broke down halfway through the door and never worked properly again. Overall, it was a brilliant experience and I would like to come back again with friends.

I was very impressed with this place. Meant to go in numerous times and never quite made it. Ventured in on Saturday after the Makers Market and not dissapointed. Entry is free but I paid a fiver for the tour that I got all to myself. Highly recommend this!

Sue was a great guide! Having a strong family connection to the industry made the information really personable and come alive.
If you come to look around its still amazing but you may miss some of the inside interesting stories.
Lovely gift shop too and loads of courses and workshops. Brilliant place and really makes you look at stockport and it's history as you walk around it today.

It's free! And it's great for young kids.
There are 4 floors, with each floor with its own exhibition.
The bacemet changes every few months but at the moment it's a strawberry studios exhibit. (2017 Dec)
The rest has lots of history about Stockport with lots activities for the kits to do in each room. It's actually quite interesting! Lots of photos of how Stockport looked back in the day. Even an 1950 kitchen! Even had a hot point in it. Lol

My eldest daughter aged 7 decided she would like to be a Milner so this was a must for us but the whole family enjoyed it (1, 3 ,5, 7 and mid 20's ) the place is immaculate, staff were friendly and its fully wheelchair accessible. There is a great deal of fun to be had for the children from making hats, dressing up and playing with materials. They have an impressive display of hats and machinery! It was free (tours are £5 per adult, kids free) but donations are most welcome and worth it, I would highly recommend this museum

The place is really nice. Staff really friendly. It's really kid friendly, somthing to do for them in all of the 16 rooms. They give you a little pack for each kid to do on the way round.
The audio guide was very informative and had some minor acting in it. If a little boring. 😂
I would recommend a visit if you are old or young or a family with lots of kids as it's quite fun to explore.
You can easily kill a hour here. £5 per adult.

Don't be fooled... It's free to visit!! (It's only £5 if you want a tour)
Me & wife and 1 year old had a great time exploreing the place.
It's got 3 floors, top floor is nothing. Middle floor is 100' of hats to see over the years, and a great area to try on funny hats! + Kids play area.
Bottom floor is for the older generation with all the machines showing you how they made them. Very interesting.